Biography
Jean Cunningham is a contemporary abstract painter based in Los Angeles, California. She generally works in acrylic on medium-scale canvases. Her paintings are distinguished by their colorful, amorphous and ethereal qualities. She strives to create visual spaces for contemplation.
Cunningham is continuing to add to her dramatic Red Series and colorful Radiant Series.
Cunningham was born and educated in Ohio. Using her knowledge of art and computer science, she entered the growing field of CGI (computer-generated imagery). Her career of making “flying logos” and commercials progressed to lighting and special effects for feature films including Jurassic Park and Antz.
Cunningham’s paintings have been accepted into over a dozen juried exhibitions over the last two years. A special highlight for her last year was having five paintings curated into the “ColorStraction” exhibit at the Sasse Museum of Art.
Artist Statement
Growing up I was drawn to the sun. With a camera I would capture the sun’s flare through the planks of an old barn or the radiating glow from a backlit tangle of weeds. These photographs inspired my early paintings.
My practice often begins in my sketchbook, where I experiment with color, composition, texture and atmosphere. Intuition and happy accidents are constant companions and collaborators.
When one of these sketches has a special spark, I want to make it bigger and inhabit the world while painting it into existence. Sometimes I’ll even expand a painting into a diptych or triptych to continue the exploration.
Works
Exhibitions
- Autumn Enchantment 2026